The halfway point of the football season is already here, and that means it is a good time to take a look at how it has gone so far. The headlines are impressive to this point, as the Saint Joe football team has started off 3-1 for the first time in several years, and they have gotten those wins in impressive fashion.
After suffering a crushing 33-28 loss to a much-improved Lakeland Lakers team to kick the season off, the team bounced back in a big way against Fort Wayne South Side, in a rout to the tune of a dominant defense and a balanced passing and rushing attack on offense that saw the team win 41-3. After cruising to their win over the Archers, the boys came back to Father Bly Field to face off against a much familiar opponent, South Bend Washington.
This game featured one of the most impressive St. Joseph football performances in a long time, as the boys cruised to another blowout win, this time with a score of 51-0. Not only did St. Joe dominate on offense and defense, but they did so particularly well on special teams, with senior Tommy Eck leading the way with multiple blocked punts, an interception, a two-point conversion, and earning himself a runner-up award for the South Bend Tribune Area Player of the Week.
The fourth week of the season featured another inter-city clash between NIC conference foes, with St. Joe facing off against South Bend Adams at School Field. Once again, St. Joe would prevail in blowout fashion, this time by a score of 46-7, with that being St. Joe’s biggest NIC conference win in several years. The defense played lights-out once again, while the offense continued to hum, this time with the rushing attack eviscerating the Eagles’ defense.
The highlight player of week four was Hayden Miller, who had an incredible interception that he returned for a touchdown, as well as a long touchdown on a jet sweep play where he made it look easy as he breezed his way through the Adams defense. Up to this point in the season, the St. Joe offense has scored a total of 166 points and given up only 43, with only 10 points combined given up over the last 3 games, all blowout wins.
The boys come back to Father Bly Field to face off against the New Prairie Cougars, in an NIC clash with major implications as both teams sit atop the conference.
